Tokur - Introduction

The Tokur licence area is located 70 km away from Malomir and 45km away from Albyn. It was acquired by Group in 2003 and has since become an important base for the Group in this part of the Amur Region; with infrastructure from previous operations at the Tokur underground mine still in place and laboratory and mineral processing facilities on-site. This fully accredited laboratory at Tokur was built by the Group in order to assay samples from Tokur, Malomir and Albyn, as well as other assets in the Amur Region. Further work is ongoing to develop a regional test plant for gravitational, flotation and cyanidation metallurgical work for the Pioneer, Malomir and Albyn assets.

The presence of gold mineralisation in this part of the Amur Region has been known since 1901. Since then, there have been alluvial operations close to the Albyn licence area and Tokur itself was also subject to underground mining during the Soviet period to a depth of 400 m, producing 35 tonnes of gold. Many specialists have remained in the area, residing in settlements such as Zlatoustovsk, which is the nearest settlement to Albyn. It has a 35 kv electric powerline, a small airfield and an all-seasons road connecting it to the Baikal Amur railway.

Some infrastructure at the mine is in place from previous mining operations at the Tokur underground mine. The deposit benefits from an electric power line at Zlatoustovsk, approximately 2km from the deposit. Tokur has been mined at different stages during the last 60 years and many of the mining specialists who worked at Tokur during this period have remained in the area. Consequently, there is already a skilled workforce available in the vicinity.